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The Imploding Banking Sector July 24th, 2012
Read Fr. Finn’s latest blog on Huffington Post – his commentary on the latest implosion of the banking sector. It begins…
Summer months here in Washington, D.C. are generally characterized by the slower pace that is associated with southern cities and the rush of Congress and government employees to get in some vacationing with their families before Labor Day. Even the traffic reporters usually sprinkle their reports with comments about the decreased traffic flows or the early exits for the eastern shore that usually start on Thursday afternoon.
Unfortunately, if you are on the House Financial Services Committee or the Senate Banking committee or one of the regulators for the numerous corporations that operate in the financial services sector, there has been very little down time since the famous early May JPMC announcement about the huge trading loss in their Chief Investment Office in London. Since then the amount of the loss has more than doubled and numerous investigations into the actions of individuals involved in the loss have been opened. All of these activities promise to keep a number of folks at their desks for longer than expected.
Oblates Attend HIV-AIDS Conference in Washington, DC July 24th, 2012
Oblate JPIC Staff, George Ngolwe and friends at the 2012 Washington DC AIDS Conference
Fr. Ashok Stephen OMI at the 2012 Washington AIDS Conference. Novartis is fighting an 'anti-evergreening' provision of the law in India.
Female AIDS Activists at the Washington DC AIDS Conference
Fr. Ashok Stephen OMI with Advocates for the Robin Hood Tax marching in Washington, DC
Marching with AIDS activists near the White House
Religious and Civil Society Groups Challenge Violent Repression of Peruvian Mining Protests July 12th, 2012
Newmont Mining Protests in Peru
The Oblates JPIC Office joined a broad array of civil society and religious groups expressing serious concern to the Peruvian government about the “alarming escalation in the repression of free speech, police brutalities, and human rights violations” in the country, largely related to mining activities. Indigenous communities, whose water supplies and way of life are threatened by the mining developments, have refused their consent to such projects. The government’s response has been heavy-handed, with the death of five people since the beginning of July 2012, and numerous injuries. The international groups resolved to continue to monitor and publicize developments, and asked the government to:
- Immediately halt the repression and violent attacks against protestors.
- Lift the “State of Emergency” that violates citizen rights and has led to the militarization of the region, with the potential to lead to additional acts of violence.
- Immediately undertake an independent investigation into the brutal arrest of Father Marco Arana and the intimidation of other leaders of the opposition to the Conga project.
- Adopt a mandate of community consent prior to all extractive industry projects, as the lack of consent is the largest driver of social conflicts in Peru.
Fr. Carl Kabat Returns to Kansas City Plant for a July 4th Nuclear Weapons Protest July 12th, 2012
Fr. Carl Kabat, omi with fellow anti-nuclear activist, Joshua Armfield
Fr. Carl Kabat, omi entered the property at a nuclear bomb plant under construction in Kansas City on July 4, as he did last year. He named his action the 85% Pruning Hooks action – the title stems from the fact that the plant produces approximately 85% of the non-nuclear components for our nation’s nuclear weapons. Fr. Kabat also has re-styled Independence Day as “Interdependence Day” in honor of the interconnection of all nature.
Fr. Kabat faces three criminal charges after cutting through a fence and entering the grounds of the Kansas City Plant, a major new nuclear weapons facility under construction, to call attention to its building. The priest’s action represents the latest in a years-long campaign by activists to call attention to the facility’s construction.
Protests at the site, construction of which is estimated to cost $1.2 billion and scheduled to be partially operational by early 2013, have been led in part by area Catholics who have also been leading petition campaigns to remove funding from the site. One of the petitions, focused on developing a plan for reuse of the facility should it be abandoned in light of weapons cuts, was unanimously passed by the local city council in March.
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In Pursuit of Self Sustainability July 5th, 2012
There are now several community gardens in the Oblate world – the original OEI garden in Godfrey, Illinois, the new initiative at the Oblate headquarters in Washington, DC, and a community-oriented agriculture project in Zambia. We wanted to share this story of the Zambia initiative:
Zambia’s Oblate formation community moved to its new location in Makeni only in October last year. After seeing the poultry and the big field of vegetables in the back yard garden, the impression a first time visitor would have of the place is that the occupants may had been settled there for a longer period. The community in Makeni grows vegetables, not only for consumption but also for sale to the people around the community and to the city at large. Produce from the garden is sold at wholesale price in one of the city’s biggest market called Soweto, and in two other densely populated areas namely, Chawama and Kabwata. Efforts are also being made to sell the vegetables in one of the leading chain supermarkets.
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